Dcf Gets Custody Of Boy With Drug

A 5-year-old boy who turned in 20 packets of heroin at a Hartford day care center earlier this week has been ordered into the custody of the state Department of Children and Families.

A Hartford Superior Court judge Thursday awarded custody to the state to keep him safe.

The boy showed up Monday at the Growing Tree Early Learning Center with the packets of heroin in his pockets. He told a teacher he didn't want them anymore, police said.

The boy has since been suspended from the center, which is run by the YWCA for the Hartford region. Officials there said the boy will remain suspended until it is determined how he got the drugs.

Gary Kleeblatt, a DCF spokesman, did not say when or where the boy will be placed in state care.

The boy's mother, Maurene DaCosta, 34, of Hartford, has been charged with risk of injury to a minor in connection with the incident. But she maintains she has no idea how the boy obtained the packets, which police said were pre-packaged for sale.

Police are investigating fingerprints found on the packets to find out who may have given the drugs to the boy.